Zechariah 10:2

Zechariah 10:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
• New International Version (NIV)The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envision lies, And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

Context of Zechariah 10:2

1Ask for rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain. It is the Lord who makes the thunder clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field to everyone. For the teraphim (household idols) speak wickedness (emptiness, worthlessness), And the diviners see lying visions And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep, They are afflicted and suffer because there is no shepherd. 3“My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds], And I shall punish the male goats (leaders); For the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom), And will make them like His beautiful and majestic horse in the battle. 4From them (Judah) shall come the Cornerstone, From them the tent peg, From them the bow of battle, From them every ruler, all of them together.

Zechariah 10:2 word by word

כִּ֧י הַתְּרָפִ֣ים דִּבְּרוּ־אָ֗וֶן וְהַקּֽוֹסְמִים֙ חָ֣זוּ שֶׁ֔קֶר וַֽחֲלֹמוֹת֙ הַשָּׁ֣וא יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ הֶ֖בֶל יְנַֽחֵמ֑וּן עַל־כֵּן֙ נָסְע֣וּ כְמוֹ־צֹ֔אן יַעֲנ֖וּ כִּֽי־אֵ֥ין רֹעֶֽה׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For the idolsתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
• have spokenדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• vanityאָ֫וֶן'âven · evil: wickednessH205
• and the divinersקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
• have seenחָזָהchâzâh · to seeH2372
• a lieשֶׁ֫קֶרsheqer · deceptionH8267
• falseשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: falseH7723
• dreamsחֲלוֹםchălôm chălôm · dreamH2472
• they comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• in vainהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• therefore they wentנָסַעnâsa‛ · to set outH5265
• their way as a flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
• they were troubledעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
• no shepherdרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462

Cross-references for Zechariah 10:2

• Genesis 31:19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel [went inside the house and] stole her father’s household gods.
• Judges 18:14Then the five men who had gone to scout the country of Laish said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, an image [of silver-plated wood], and a cast image [of solid silver]? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
• Isaiah 44:9All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.
• Isaiah 46:5“To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we may be alike?
• Jeremiah 10:8But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!
• Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the idols of the nations who can send rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait and hope [confidently] in You, For You are the one who has made all these things [the heavens and the rain].
• Hosea 3:4For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).
• Habakkuk 2:18“What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it? It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies. For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god] When he makes speechless idols.
• Jeremiah 23:25“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed [visions when on my bed at night].’
• Jeremiah 27:9And as for you, do not listen to your [counterfeit] prophets, your diviners, your dreams and dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers, who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
• Jeremiah 29:8For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours,
• Lamentations 2:14Your prophets have seen (imagined) for you False and foolish visions; And they have not exposed your wickedness To restore you from captivity [by teaching you to repent], But they have seen (imagined) and declared to you false and misleading oracles.
• Ezekiel 13:6They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, ‘The Lord says,’ but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they hope and make men to hope for the confirmation of their word.
• Ezekiel 21:29while they (Ammonite prophets) see false visions [of peace] for you, while they divine lies [of escape] for you—to place you [of Ammon] on the headless bodies of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, whose time of the final punishment is here.
• Micah 3:6Therefore it will be night (tragedy) for you—without vision, And darkness (cataclysm) for you—without foresight. The sun shall go down on the [false] prophets, And the day shall become dark and black over them.
• Job 13:4But you smear me with lies [you defame my character most untruthfully]; You are all worthless physicians and have no remedy to offer.

Commentaries on Zechariah 10:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The idols have spoken vanity - This is spoken of the Jews, and must refer to their idolatry practiced before the captivity, for there were no idols after. Therefore they went their way - They were like a flock that had no shepherd, shifting from place to place, and wandering about in the wilderness, seeking for pasture, wherever they might find it. Some think that the idols and diviners were those of the Seleucidae Greeks, who excited their masters with…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2For the teraphim have spoken vanity - Rather, “spake vanity.” He appeals to their former experience. Their father had sought of idols, not of God; therefore they went into captivity. The “teraphim” were used as instruments of divination. They are united with the “ephod,” as forbidden, over against the allowed, means of enquiry as to the future, in Hosea, “without an ephod and without teraphim” Hosea 3:4; they were united in the mingled worship of Micah…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2idols: This might refer to ancestor statues used in ceremonies to summon the spirits of the dead. Consulting with the dead was common in the ancient world, but God's law forbade it for the Hebrews (see Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. idols--literally, "the teraphim," the household gods, consulted in divination (see on Ho 3:4). Derived by Gesenius from an Arabic root, "comfort," indicating them as the givers of comfort. Or an Ethiopian root, "relics." Herein Zechariah shows that the Jews by their own idolatry had stayed the grace of God heretofore, which otherwise would have given them all those blessings, temporal and spiritual, which they are now (Zec 10:1) urged to "ask" for…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 10:2

• Dream
• Idolatry
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• Magic
• Visit
• Bible, the
• Crime; Crimes
• Divination
• Images
• Magic; Magician
• Salvation
• Shepherd
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Zechariah 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings